The History of Chocolate

Chocolate was first used as a drink with no sugar added. The cocoa tree was discovered about 2,000 years ago in the tropical rainforests of America.

The first known people to use cocoa as chocolate were the ancient cultures of Mexico and Central America. Among these cultures were the Maya and Aztec people they mixed cocoa with cornmeal, chili peppers and other ingredients made it frothy and drank it, it was the Spanish inquisition that brought the seeds back to Spain in 1521, at first the Spanish did not like the bitter taste and started by warming the drink and adding a variety of different spices. Cocoa was a very expensive import, for this reason it was only the elite upper class that could afford this delicious drink, and it was kept a secret from the rest of Europe for almost 100 years. Cocoa then became a status symbol for the rest of Europe who by then started adding sugar to this blend, as sugar and cacao were very expensive imports, the consumption of this beverage was reserved for the wealthy, in France this drink was only consumed by the royal court.

Eventually the Spanish and a lot of other European counties decided to grow their own sugar and cacao, the soon realized it was very labour intensive, so combining paid labour and slaves made it easier. Even though a lot has changed since, the actual cacao farming process has not changed much, the harvesting, fermenting, drying, cleaning and the roasting are still mainly done by hand.

Chocolate has also been known to cause mild jitters in people sensitive to caffeine even though there is less caffeine in one 5 once cup of plain cacao made with one table spoon of plain cacao.

Allergic reactions has also been reported, according to the Merck Manual it is one of the 12 foods that are most likely to cause allergic reaction, but the evidence linking chocolate to allergies or migraine headaches are very inconsistent as the results of tests differs from person to person.